PUTNMAN COUNTY, Mo. — Fifteen-year-old Walter Hartwig, of Putnam County, suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a basketball practice on November 23, 2022.

A normal practice for the freshman was turned into a parent’s worst nightmare; a call from their child’s school saying something went wrong.

After collapsing to the floor, two Putnam County R-1 staff members jumped into action providing CPR while using an AED machine to try and stabilize Hartwig until help arrived.

He would be mercy-flighted to a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, before going to a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

It was determined his heart had stopped for five to eight minutes.

His road to recovery began.

Part two of the story will air Friday, December 23, 2022 at 6 p.m.